Bangladesh
6 years ago

Outbound jobs drop by 24 per cent

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The country's overseas employment dropped by more than 24 per cent in last seven months compared to that of the corresponding period last year.

According to the data available with Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), 451,536 workers went abroad with jobs during the period between January and July of the current calendar year.

But a total of 596,705 workers went overseas during the same period in 2017, the official data showed.

Sector insiders said Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain have reduced recruitment of workers from Bangladesh this year.

So, the number of outbound jobseekers witnessed a declining trend, they added.

The outflow of jobseekers to Middle East will decrease further as Saudi Arabia has recently restricted foreign workers to its several sectors. Development works are also getting slow in this country.

Qatar is also searching skilled workers for its different sectors, said a labour official at Bangladesh embassy in Doha.

Bangladesh sends, to mention, mostly less-skilled construction workers.

But the demand for such less-skilled workers is decreasing day by day in this oil-rich country, they added.

Sector insiders said if such a declining trend continues, it may miss the yearly target of overseas jobs.

They suggested that the authorities concerned should take necessary steps to explore new job markets for Bangladeshi workers.

The government set a target of sending 1.2 million workers in 2018, said officials of the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry.

In six months of the current year, Saudi Arabia recruited 159,577 Bangladeshi workers while Qatar 45,375, Oman 43,216 and Kuwait 22,241.

More than 11 million Bangladeshis had gone abroad with employment since 1976, according to BMET statistics.

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